Regular Boomerocity readers know that I have a short version review of any Joe Bonamassa project. This time is no exception. Ready? Here it is:

Love it/buy it.

For those of you who just like to read whatever I write, here’s the unabridged version:

When I received my review copies recently of the Joe Bonamassa’s CD and DVD package, An Acoustic Evening At The Vienna Opera House, I was like a little kid on Christmas morning. I was pogo-stick happy to get my grubby paws on these and couldn’t wait to pop them into my players.

I wasn’t at all disappointed.

The only difference between the CD and the DVD (besides the obvious video) are a couple of comments from Joe and band members between a couple of songs. Other than that, the track lists are virtually identical.

The songs were recorded live at the Vienna Opera House in Austria. Joe was joined by four other musicians (Gerry OConnor on Irish Banjo and fiddle, Mats Wester on yckelharpa and mandola, Alran Schierbaum on harmonium, accordion, baby piano and glockenspiel, and Lenny Castro on percussion) who had all met for the first time there.

How cool is that?

Bonamassa fans will be glad to see some old favorites on these discs such as The Ballad of John Henry, Ball Peen Hammer, Sloe Gin, and one of my personal favorites, Mountain Time. The latter will surprise fans, though, in that Joe gives it a bit of a blue grass/country feel which is fine by me. I still love it. Some newer tunes are on the set list, too. Greats like Driving Towards Daylight, Slow Train, and Dust Bowl. Oldies or newbies, hearing them all “unplugged” and in the beautiful setting of the Vienna Opera House is both an audio and visual treat not to be denied.

To show you how jazzed I am about this release, I will play the first cut, Arrival, over and over on my player or, if the DVD is on, I’ll leave it on the menu page and just let the music of Arrival play on a continuous loop.

Yeah, it’s that good.

Obviously, Bonamassa fans like me will snatch these two discs right up without having to listen to any samples. However, I would suggest that these same fans perhaps buy an addition copy or two to give to your friends who are only into acoustic guitar work. They’ll undoubtedly love Joe’s work and become diehard fans, too.